Here's a video that will give you an insight about what goes into retouching and cleaning up a photograph. It's not blurring or ...

Ever wonder what photo retouching really is?

9/20/2017
ISO 1200 Magazine
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Here's a video that will give you an insight about what goes into retouching and cleaning up a photograph. It's not blurring or airbrushing skin, and there's no magic button.

Half of the time, you won't even know an image is retouched when it's done correctly and that's what it should be. It should what a person looks like on their best day, realistic yet natural and full of visible skin texture. This is for people in the industry as well as outside of it, to bridge the gap of understanding what it's really about amid the bad media out there.

After the video, there were a few things I addressed that I did not do in the video, one is going further on the foot and the color to ensure it was consistent with the rest of the skin, the moire on the leg, and further dodge and burning. But the principles were identical.

Technical:

This is a recent retouching timelapse video I made to showcase a non-destructive and simplified workflow, using primarily healing, cloning, dodge and burn, and color correction to execute a final image.

The intention of this video is:

* To show people not educated in retouching about what goes into cleaning up skin and the length of time it may take in a quick overview.
* To show creatives who might be looking to see how other retouchers work to clean up an image without being destructive.
* For fun!

Production:

Created in conjunction with Andrea Belluso. Music: "Love is on the Run (Instrumental) by Stefano Mastronardi"

Education:

For education on learning retouching, I have a full (slowed down!) 3 day course which goes over everything you see here and more on Creative Live: https://www.creativelive.com/courses/...

About Pratik Naik:

Solstice Retouch is a boutique retouching agency, specializing in commercial and editorial work. My name is Pratik Naik, founder and head retoucher. I personally look forward to hearing about your next project! My team and I are excited to hear from you. Let's Get Connected:Website | Facebook | Instagram